JPMorgan Chase Decides Against Charging A Debit Card Fee After All

Some big banks are beginning to decide that charging a debit card fee may lead to more trouble than it's worth.

JPMorgan Chase has decided it isn't going to charge customers to use their debit cards for purchases, after eight months of testing the program, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bank -- which is one of the biggest consumer banks, according to the WSJ -- is just the latest to decide not to charge for debit card use; Citigroup, PNC, U.S. Bankcorp and KeyCorp also recently announced that they would stay away from debit card fees.

This isn't the first fee JPMorgan Chase has decided against after consumer testing. The bank tested ATM fees on non-network customers earlier this year, charging $5 in Illinois and $4 in Texas, but eventually discontinued the plan.

Banking industry officials have said that they need to start charging fees for once-free checking account services to make up for revenue lost as a result of financial reform regulations. Though Citibank does not plan to charge customers for using their debit cards, Citibank will charge certain customers as much as $20 per month for low account balances.